Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Author's Note: I'm somewhere between the American and Canaidan timeline for the 6teen episodes thanks to them being posted online.
"No."
"Please!"
"Uh, let me think about it."
"Really?"
"NO!" The cranky individualistic teen rounded on her perky friend. "How many times do I have to say this? No, no, no and nononono!"
"Please, please, please Nikki! You have to go with me! I can't do this thing on my own!" Caitlin beseechingly clasped her hands together.
"Then why did you sign up for it?" grumbled Nikki.
"Kam says he really admires commitment from a woman and we sign up for these couples' lessons." She waves a pamphlet from her back pocket under Nikki's nose. Nikki snatched it out of her hand.
"'Become the Perfect Couple'?" she read off the front dubiously.
"Uh-huh," Caitlin nodded frantically. "Five couples and an instructor go off to these secluded wilderness lakeside cabins for ten days and are coached on how to have a happier, healthier relationship. The program has a ninety-seven percent success rate." Caitlin flashed her most winning smile.
Nikki skeptically flipped the leaflet over to skim the back. "Don't you hate camping?"
"I know…" Caitlin shoulders slumped. "But that's why you've gotta come with me Nikki! No mall, no phone service for over a week! I'll die if have at least one friend to talk to!"
"I'll say." Nikki rolled her eyes.
"Please!" Caitlin begged again. "I really think Kam might be the one for real this time and this is my chance to prove to him how serious I am about our relationship."
"Well, why not just ask someone else?" Nikki handed the pamphlet back to her. "I think thing are okay with Wyatt and Marlowe now. Ask them."
"No!" Caitlin gasped. "They just got through a bumpy patch in their relationship; even the smallest amount of stress can shatter the entire thing!"
Nikki crossed her arms over her chest trying to think of a clearer way to deliver to her objections to her very blonde companion. She was spared coming up with a suitable retort by Caitlin's phone ringing.
"Oh, it's Kam!" Caitlin squealed looking at the caller-ID and flipped the phone open.
"Hell-o, Ka-aam!" She sung into the receiver and started to walk away towards the food court. "Later!" She called to Nikki over her shoulder and went back to babbling in the phone.
"But–" Nikki called out to Caitlin's back to protest some more; Caitlin was already gone.
"Hurricane Caitlin. Whoosh!" Nikki sighed. She'd set things straight with Caitlin later. Right now the infamous 'Tacky' Barn was calling her.
XxXxXxXxX
"Yeah! Three pointer!" Jonesy pumped at fist in the air after making a sinking shot into the trash from the gang's usual table.
"Nice one, Jonesmeister!" Jude called sailing by on his skateboard circling the lemon-shaped stand.
"Ugh. Real mature, Jonesy," Jen groused over a magazine at her stepbrother's antics. Wyatt chuckle softly to himself and took a swig of coffee.
"So, whatsup with you?" he asked Jen.
"Couch is having me do research on sales history so we'll have 'that competitive edge' over the spring break," Jen gestured at the magazine.
"Ooouh! Bummer for you," Wyatt nodded at her sympathetically. "I think the rest of us were lucky enough to get spring break off." He took another sip of coffee.
"What? All of you?" Jen cried, horrified.
"Yeah, bra," Jude said. "All next week just me and my board!"
"I always sets my own hours," Jonesy declared proudly.
"Yeah, and I think Nikki bullied the Clones into giving her the time off," Wyatt explained. "Don't know about Caitlin… but I'm not working during the break."
Jen groaned and hit her head against the table. "Unbelievable! I'll be the only one working!"
"Aw, come on, Jen…" Jonesy simpered. "It's not that bad."
Jen raised her head up off the table to glare at him.
"Okay, it's that bad," he corrected, snickering.
"Hey, guys!" Caitlin called to her friends, stepping into The Big Squeeze and pulling on her apron.
"Well, you're cheerful today," Wyatt commented.
"Hmm? Yeah," Caitlin giggled. "Just a little."
"So? Spill what is it?" Jen put her magazine down and leaned forwards, eager for the juicy 411.
"Kam!" Caitlin bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "He's taking me camping over spring break!"
"Coool, camping." Jude swung back around on his board to halt in front of the table to partake in the conversation.
"You hate camping though," Jen pointed out. Caitlin waved her hand dismissively.
"It's not really camping," she hurried to explain. "More like a romantic learning experience. See?" Caitlin leaned over the counter and offered the brochure to Wyatt who took it from her. The others crowded in around him for a better view.
"'Perfect Couple'?" Jen raised an eyebrow.
"It's this incredible program for couples to really get in touch with one another. We're going this weekend. Us, a campfire, the stars, the serene wilderness…" Caitlin sighed, lost in her own little fantasy world. "So dreamy…"
"How are bug bites dreamy?" asked Nikki coming up behind the group.
"Hey, Nikki," Wyatt greeted her. She gave a small non-committed grunt and flopping into her usual spot between Wyatt and Jonesy.
"It is not buggy!" huffed Caitlin. "Maybe, a little buggy by the lake…" she amended, quickly "…but there's a beautiful lodge, personal cabins, natural foods all-you-can-eat buffet, daily activities tailored to each individual couple's personal needs…"
"Sounds expensive," Jen frowned.
"Sounds just plain freaky," Jonesy said. "Who'd want to do something like that?" Nikki and Wyatt nodded in agreement.
"Yeah… real un-mellow," added Jude.
"No, no. You guys total don't understand at all," Caitlin waved her hands about to cease their negative commentary. "It's not expensive. Entrance fee is only twenty dollars per person and it's a great way for couples to find themselves. There also a prize of five-hundred dollars to the most-perfect couple in the course."
"Five-hundred dollars?" Jonesy's eyes lit up. "Sure, we'll do it!"
"We? What 'we'?" Nikki glared at him.
"Come on, Nikki. Five-hundred dollars? Act like a couple for a week and we're a shoe-in for the prize money!"
"Jonesy, it's not about the money," Caitlin scolded. "It's a chance for couples to truly commit and connect in the great-outdoors."
"Five-hundred dollars is five-hundred dollars," Jonesy stated pointedly. "Not to mention free food while we're there all for the price of a mere twenty dollars."
"Let's see… how do I say this?" Nikki rubbed her temples and abruptly turned to shout in his face. "NO!" Jonesy toppled over backwards in his seat.
Jen, Wyatt, and Jude cackled uproariously.
"Alright, alright… sheesh." He picked himself up. Nikki folded her arms and glowered.
"Good call, Nikki," Jen laughed. "You'd never be able to survive the wilds anyhow!"
"What's that suppose to mean?" demanded Nikki, rounding on her.
"N-nothing," Jen held up her hands in surrender, surprised by her friend's outburst. "Just noting from personal experience of having to share a bathroom. There's no way you'd be able to endure both Jonesy and the wilderness… I mean that's like a double-whammy there…" Jen trailed off, realizing she'd just dug herself a deeper hole.
